Debbie Martinez: Don't be fooled again with biomass plant

Tuesday

Jun 13, 2017 at 2:00 AMJun 15, 2017 at 2:56 PM

By Debbie Martinez Special to The Sun

Using the name Gainesville Renewable Energy Center can be very misleading because it is difficult to view a monster of a 100-megawatt, wood-burning power plant as renewable. Since international energy speculators chose this warm-and-fuzzy name, I will refer to them as GREC.

The Sun and the Gainesville City Commission majority have come out in support of the $750 million GREC biomass plant purchase. This is déjà vu all over again — exactly what occurred in the run-up to the commission voting to approve the unnecessary and fiscally irresponsible 30-year biomass contract known as the power purchase agreement. This multibillion-dollar agreement for power that we did not and still do not need results in energy costs of more than twice the market rate, devastating the lives of lower-income people and our local mom-and-pop businesses.

During City Commission meetings and in past articles published in The Sun, there have been many references to concerned citizens who speak out against the GREC contract as being “biomass opponents.” Citizens continue to speak out to protect Gainesville Regional Utilities customers who are stuck paying the highest utility bills in the state of Florida because the City Commission failed to listen. Derogatory labels being used on honorable and heroic members of our community does nothing to fix the problem and says much about those slinging them.

Like with the lead-up to the 2009 biomass wood-burner boondoggle, citizens are witnessing a propaganda tour by GRU and the commission once again. We are being bombarded with columns from GRU touting the top-dollar proposal to purchase the biomass wood burner plant as the best possible option. Like with the first swindle in 2009, the rush to give these international energy speculators top dollar before we doing our due diligence is an effort to shove this smelly mess under the rug before it can be properly cleaned up.

Utility Advisory Board Chair Darin Cook has tried to warn the City Commission that, “GREC has shown itself to be almost completely untrustworthy in its dealings.” Cook is a highly successful and respected energy expert who co-founded and runs a local company that employs more than 300 well-compensated employees. When it comes to GREC, Cook’s assessment is based on his business experience rather than on political reasons.

With a propaganda team of this size and access to our money used to fund a pull-out-the-stops propaganda campaign, it’s not surprising that some citizens may be confused. But are we confused enough to believe it is a great idea to take on $1.25 billion in debt payments to reward bad actor global energy speculators? With the help of their self proclaimed local politician "partners,” they already have fleeced us out of $300 million.

The local politicians and their allies that did this to us the first time are once again rearing their ugly heads, pulling out all the stops to try confuse us into supporting a payoff scheme they hope will cover up their misdeeds forever. Fool citizens once, shame on GREC. Fool citizens twice, shame on us.